Our Little Girl
by ChoCedric
Summary: DH spoilers! Jean Granger, Hermione's mother, expresses how her and her husband feel about what Hermione has been through in the last seven years. A peek into the minds of two parents who only want the best for their daughter.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Our Little Girl

By: ChoCedric

As my husband and I lie awake in our bed in England the first night we get home, we wonder why we let our little girl go to Hogwarts when she was faced with so much danger. She was right to think that we would stop her going if she had told us everything that was going on in that magical world she lives in. Randy and I, being ordinary "Muggle" dentists, had no idea what she was facing. And I can't help but feel a little angry that she totally cut us off by using those memory charms.

I understand why she did it, but couldn't she have let us make our own decision about the war? If she'd let us, we'd have wanted to know exactly what was transpiring. She's told us everything now, and we did feel bad when she was in tears over everything that had gone on. She told us every single thing that had happened over the past seven years: her almost being killed by a troll; getting petrified by a basilisk; being in the same room as a mass murderer (although the mass murderer was a different man (Peter Pettigrew) than everyone thought (Sirius Black)); how her best friend, who is the famous Harry Potter in their world, emerged from a competition clutching the dead body of a fellow student; how she was almost killed at the Ministry of Magic by some fellow named Antonin Dolohov; how she risked her life in another battle and was then told that her Headmaster had been murdered; and finally, the hunt for these things called Horcruxes and how she was tortured by some psychotic nutcase named Bellatrix Lestrange and how she was then involved in a humungous final battle.

Needless to say, Randy and I were horrified. What had we agreed to when we told her she could go to that school? Giant trolls, mass murderers, basilisks, huge battles, what parent wants to know their daughter almost died? And for God's sakes, she didn't even let us come to a decision on our own about whether we should be involved in her life! Instead she wiped our memories and made us not even remember her! We know how clever our Hermione is, she's always been like that. But I can't believe she felt like she had to go through this alone with no help from us! We love our girl dearly, and would have done anything to make this easier for her. She told us she did the memory charm to keep us safe, but part of me worries that she did it because she wanted to cast us aside somehow. She assured us over and over again, when Randy expressed that sentiment in a fit of anger, that that was not her intent. The whole weight of everything she'd been through almost seemed to crush her, and while Randy was furious, I had to be the calm one, and I took her into my arms and embraced her while she sobbed her heart out, and I tried to tell her that everything was all right now.

Randy has calmed down now, but I see from his expression that he is still incredibly horrified at what our sweetheart has gone through. I can't even imagine it! I'm just a dentist, drilling people's teeth. I have no clue what these dementors or giants -- ANYTHING she's talked about are like. She told us how much pain was caused by this Cruciatus Curse, and believe me, I would have taken the pain for her any day. What parent wants to see their child suffer so much? I feel like an awful mother for not questioning her more, for not finding out exactly what had transpired in that world she lives in. And I'm furious with the teachers for not cluing Randy and me in. Why didn't they tell us the dangers involved in this magical world? Believe me, if we'd found out, we would have pulled her out of there faster than you could say "magic."

Now she tells us she's in love with one of her best friends whose name is Ron. She's told us a lot about this Ron before; that was the one thing she didn't keep from us. She even cried about him last year, told us that he really hurt her feelings. Of course, Randy and I are very concerned that she's now in love with him. She's told us that he's matured now, but again, what parent wants to see their daughter heartbroken? Last year at Christmas she practically cried herself sick in my arms over him. But she's a very stubborn girl, our Hermione, and we know she's not going to budge from her decision to love him. And she's almost eighteen now, and as much as we want to, we can't very well tell her what she can and cannot do anymore.

So all Randy and I can do now is hope to God that now that this horrible war is over, things in her world will be all right. And we know there's a very obstinate streak in her, she gets that from Randy. We can threaten to pull her away from this wizarding world, but knowing our little girl, she'll find her way back. But there's not a day that'll go by now that I won't somehow feel like I've neglected my duties to love and care for her as much as possible. She wants Randy and I to meet Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, which are her boyfriend's family. We did meet them briefly before, in her second year, but we don't remember them very well. The father seemed to be very interested in us because we're "muggles", that's all I remember. She also wants us to meet this Harry Potter. As much as we want to shout at him for putting our daughter in danger, we want to thank him for trying to keep her safe when she was in that danger. She's filled us in on how much Harry did for her; if it wasn't for him and Ron, she says, she would have died her first year, in the troll episode.

But for every single day that Randy and I have left with Hermione, we want to let her know how much we love her. I don't think she really knows how much we'd do for her, and how much we want her to be safe and happy. We'll tell her how sorry we are to have not been more concerned about her life. Knowing Hermione, though, she'll just smile and say it's all right. To make her happy, we will meet this Harry Potter, and her Ron and his family, and we hope Ron will take care of our girl for us. We will definitely ask more questions, and learn more about our daughter's life. But as I said, above all else, we want her to know how much she is loved. She will always be our little girl.


End file.
